Jay's Hope book one: Pretty Beautiful
by SwimmerNinja13
Summary: Jay Walker planned to be the goofy college nerd like he was in high school, but a stack of fallen flyers changes everything. Suddenly Jay is faced with a dozen choices he'd never thought he'd have to make. Luckily he has a good friend by his side. But he begins to question are they more than just friends and what is the real reason why he's been going to Bible study?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! You know how I said I wasn't going to do any of these for Jay and Kai since their story is practically covered in Nya's sub series? Well, change of plans. I've got ideas for them and lots of them.**

"Freshmen here for initiation, please find the table with the letter that matches your last name!"

Jay wandered around lost for a few moments now regretting he had told mom and dad to stay home. Day one hadn't even started and he was already the lost loner.

"Hey, watch it!" A boy who couldn't be any older than Jay although he was a foot taller yelped.

Jay removed his foot from the boy's tennis shoe, "I'm sorry."

A girl standing next to him smiled, "ignore him. He's pretty frazzled about today."

"Am not!" The boy argued.

"Uh huh. Come on Kai. Let's go see where Loretta and everyone else went."

Jay watched the two of them walk away slowly backing up. They seemed like an interesting group. Maybe he'd have some classes with them. Better not get his hopes up though.

Jay crashed into a man holding a stack of flyers. Papers went every direction. Immediately five people including him were on the ground picking them up.

The boy and girl from earlier were two of them.

"Are you going?" The girl asked.

"Huh?" Jay asked. Stupid him! Always zoning out!

"Are you going?" The girl repeated. She pointed at the flyers. For the first time, Jay took the time to read them.

Evergreen Community College Bible Study. Held on Thursdays at 8:00 PM. Chapel Point. All students welcome.

"Are you?" Jay asked.

The girl nodded her head, "yeah."

"Same. It sounds like fun."

Silence. Jay sang awkward in his head.

"By the way, I'm Jay. Jay Walker."

The girl didn't crack up like most people would but extended her hand, "Nya. Nya Smith."

 **#God's Not Dead!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Here's the next update! I hope you all enjoy. By the way, I may need a couple ocs for this story, so if you've got one, please tell me the name, age preferably college age, gender, a slight physical appearance, and personality. Thanks!**

Come Thursday Jay was a complete mess. He had homework galore, and well only two friends. Two was good though, right?

Jay was busy filling out businesses homework when he heard a slight tap on his room door. Great! Jay shook his head. He had told Nya he was coming to the Bible study. How could he forget?

Jay quickly shoved his shoes on and flung open the door.

"Hey Nya! Sorry for the hold up. I got doing my homework and it just slipped my mind," Jay blabbed hopping his lame but true excuse would be overlooked.

Nya smiled, "What? Kai and I were just walking over there and wanted to know if you wanted to walk with us considering we invited you and all."

Jay looked down to see Kai tieing his shoe.

"Oh. Well ya."

"Great!" Nya smiled.

And they stood there.

And stood there.

And stood there.

For a moment Jay didn't know where he was or what he was looking at. They just stood there.

"Jay! Earth to Jay!" Kai snapped his fingers in front of Jay's face, "you coming or what?"

"Uh yeah!" Jay felt his cheeks turning red. Great. Just great.

Things got better once the three of them arrived at Chapel Point.

At least until a guy came up front with an electric guitar and played the world's worst rendition of Come Thou Count Of Every Blessing.

"We have got to get a better band together," Kai moaned when the guy broke a string or something and the music came to a screeching halt.

"He makes Rick look good," Nya nodded in agreement.

"Who's Rick?" Jay frowned.

"Our high school youth pastor," Nya replied.

"Yeah. He had really good lessons, but he stunk at guitar and leading worship. Nya and our friend Loretta took piano for a little while, so they kind of took over music after that."

"You played piano?"

"Well, used to. I wasn't overly good, but when Loretta and I did duets, at least we did better than Rick," Nya laughed as a guy came on stage.

"Hello everyone. As you can see, we're having some slight musical difficulties, so why don't you all introduce yourselves to the people around you, and we can all get started on today's lesson."

Jay shook hands with a couple people before the guy picked up the Mic again, "by the way, the name's Mr. Wu. I'm the physics teacher here. Some of you may already know me. I know you're out there people!"

Jay almost snorted. It must be fun having Mr. Wu as a teacher.

Once everyone had sat down again, Jay discovered Nya and Kai both had him for physics and by day three were already used to his oddness if that was the right word.

Despite the chaos, the lesson was actually pretty good. To kick off the year, Mr. Wu had decided to talk about making room for God in the midst of their crazy schedules. Jay took it all in. He brought his Bible with him.

Maybe.

Once he found it, he could start reading it again each night before bed like he had used to before high school exams and the SAT tests took over.

"That was great," Kai said standing up at the end of the teaching. "I'm really glad Mr. Wu of all people is teaching. That should keep things interesting.

"Mmmm, hmmm! He's kind of quirky," Jay agreed, "what'd you think Nya?"

"I liked it. I hope not all of the lessons this year will be this disorganized. It should be good though."

"Hey guys, you want to do coffee before we head back to the dorms?" Kai asked as he shoved his Bible and notebook into an already overflowing backpack.

"Why not?" Nya shrugged.

"I'm up for it. I could use caffeine boost before going back to the books," Jay laughed.

"How much homework do you have?" Kai gasped.

"A lot. All my hard courses were put in this tri."

"That stinks," Nya frowns, "what are you taking?"

"Bussiness management, java script, architecture design, chemistry, and trigonometry."

"Wow. I thought my childhood development class was bad, but wow, just wow," Nya replied.

"Come on! We can talk more when we get to Cool Beans!" Kai beckons.

Jay and Nya sigh and follow Kai out the door. Jay looked at Nya thoughtfully wondering if with his crazy homework pileup he'd ever have a chance.

 **Hope you all enjoyed. Has anyone ever heard of a coffee shop called Cool Beans? If you have, let me know so I can find it and go there even though I don't really like coffee. I just want to know if it's real or not. See Ya!**

 **#God's Not Dead!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! It's been like forever since last time I updated this. Sorry. Thanks for all the ocs you guys sent me. Most of them will make an appearance this chapter.**

Jay opened up the door to his dorm and Kai and Nya came in, "hey guys. You're early."

The week before, Mr. Wu assigned all of the students attending Bible Study small groups and told them to meet somewhere during the week and get to know each other. Somehow that wound up meaning they were eating pizza in Jay's dorm and playing Apple's To Apple's or something along those measures.

"We tend to be punctual people," Kai said lightly punching Jay in the arm, "You've been late to class how many times?"

"Twice and only because my mom called wanting to know how my first month of college has been!" Jay defended.

"Your mom seems like a character. I'd like to meet her sometime," Nya said kind of casually.

Jay was stunned. Did Nya really just say that? Sure, half the Bible Study group knew Jay had been majority crushing on her ever since they met, but it wasn't like they were dating or anything! Jay didn't even know if Nya shared the same feelings.

"Oh, she is," Jay said trying to play it cool. What else could he do?"

"Whatever. So how many people are coming?" Kai rolled his eyes.

"Well, counting you guys, there's seven. There's Lizzy, Tylor, Sam, Cassandra, and Mairheen."

"Have you met any of them or do you just know their names from the email chain?" Kai asked.

"Not really. Tylor's in my architectural design class, but that's about it," Jay shrugged.

"Well, I know Cassandra and Sam from Early Childhood Development class, but I don't know them know them. I just know them," Nya replied.

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Jay flung open the door to reveal a guy with long black hair with blue ends, "Hi. I'm Lizzy. You must be Jay?"

"That's me. Come in. I'll introduce you to Kai and Nya."

Nya and Kai stood up from Jay's sofa and shook hands with Lizzy.

"Nice to meet you guys. Are you related?" Lizzy asked.

"Yeah. Actually we're fraternal twins," Nya smiled. (A/n: I don't care that the website says Nya's younger by a year or two. I like to think they're the same age.)

A few moments later, Sam and Cassandra arrived, "Sorry we're late. We wanted to finish making these," Cassandra held out a paper plate wrapped in tin foil. Chocolate chip cookies were still warm inside.

"No Biggie. We're still waiting for Mairheen and Tylor anyway," Jay shrugged.

After Tylor and Mairheen got there, pizza was ordered and they sat down on the floor after determining the couch wouldn't have enough room. Jay pulled up a list of discussion questions they were supposed to ask each other.

"Question one. What do you think will be your hardest classes and how can you help each other through them?" Jay asked in a monotone voice trying to imitate Mr. Wu.

"Uhh, physics with Mr. Wu?" Tylor asked real sarcastically.

"He is pretty scatterbrained sometimes," Kai agreed.

The group laughed. Jay could tell this was going to be a great night!

 **I hope you all enjoyed! Sorry KRR, I wasn't able to get all your OCs in this chapter. The ones I didn't include will have an appearance only it won't be as large as the small groups part. If you've read my goodbye for now at least story, this was my first time writing anything Ninjago since it all happened and it felt great! I'll have more stuff updated soon. See Ya!**

 **#God's Not Dead!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone! I'm going to just point you towards all the other stories I've updated in the last couple days for info. Basically, it's my one year anniversary week, and I'm updating all my stories to celebrate even the ones I'm taking a break on this summer. So, enjoy!**

Jay had every intention of spending the night quietly in his dorm studying. In fact, he almost did do that. Exams were coming up, and Business and Java were going to be toughies. Honestly, he wasn't overly concerned though. He'd finally gotten back on track with reading his Bible thanks to the encouragement of his small groups, and unlike in high school, he'd managed to admit that God was bigger than finals.

He'd almost finished his paper for business, when a knock at the door interrupted him. Startled, he got up and opened it to find Nya there.

"Hey Nya, what's up?" Jay asked, all smiles. Her coming over without notice was enough to make his day. Jay had determined weeks ago that Nya was unaware that he had been crushing on her since the day they'd met.

"Hi Jay. Can we talk? I tried to talk to Kai, but he's not in his dorm, and his phone must be on silent," Nya replied whilst trying to fight back tears.

Jay wanted to try to comfort her, but was afraid she'd take it the wrong way, "Yeah, but not here. Whatdoya say we walk to Cool Beans and get something. My storm's kind of a mess with exams and all."

Nya nodded, "okay."

"Hold on a sec," Jay ducked back inside and stole a Kleenex from his desk and gave it to Nya who accepted gratefully, "so what's up?" He asked as they began their walk.

Nya wiped her eyes with the tissue real quick, "I got a call from my mom earlier today. One of our family friends, Sheryl, passed away yesterday," she sniffed wiping her eyes again.

Jay was silent for a second. What was he supposed to say? He'd never really lost anyone he'd loved before. He couldn't just say it will be okay when clearly it wasn't, "I'm so sorry Nya. Did she die of old age?" Jay replied hoping he'd said the right thing.

Nya sniffed and nodded her head, "she hasn't been doing well for weeks. I just wish I had a chance to say goodbye. She's the reason why my parents became Christians really. We saw her all the time after that."

"Really?" Jay asked, "I guess I just always assumed your parents were always Christians based on how involved you and Kai seem to be in Bible study and church."

"No, they weren't," Nya said as they turned a corner and entered the coffee shop.

The conversation paused as they took their order: two hot chocolates. They didn't need caffeine at night right before exams.

"So, as you were saying?" Jay asked as they took a corner table and waited for their cups.

"My parents didn't become Christians until Kai and I were six really," Nya continued as she finagle with the charm bracelet she always seemed to be wearing, "I was diagnosed with lung cancer then, and our doctor gave us a Bible. Our parents sort of pushed it aside, and Kai and I took it and started reading it at night when our parents thought we were asleep."

Jay continued listening as he watched Nya keep twisting her bracelet. She did that a lot it seemed. That's when a white fish charm between a cross and a water droplets charm Nya had explained during a small group were from when she and Kai had gotten baptized, "Nya, sorry to interrupt, but is that what your ribbon charm on your bracelet is from?"

"Actually, Yeah. It's the white ribbon for lung cancer. My dad gave it to me after I survived the treatment," Nya replied, "I've worn it ever since."

"Wow, I always thought it was supposed to be a fish, you know, from the Bible?"

"That's what a lot of people think actually. I don't think I've told many people that I've battled lung cancer. Anyway, my mom met Sheryl at a coffee shop at a time when I was only supposed to have about a month left to live, and she really gave her hope for the first time. Mom started reading Bible stories and praying with us after that. My dad became a Christian shortly after that too."

A waitresses dropped off their mugs then rushed off to serve the only other table filled in the shop.

"Sheryl sounded like a great person."

"She was. When our parents were still at work, she'd come over and watch us. I was still throwing up from chemotherapy then, so shed always give me a stick of gum and remind me that it might stink now, but God was going to use all the pain for great things," Nya blew at her mug and took a sip.

"And was she right?" Jay asked.

"Well yeah. When we graduated, I got a scholarship for reading books to kids at the hospital with lung cancer actually. Sheryl was really proud of me then."

"Then don't you think she's still right now?"

Nya swallowed her hot chocolate then replied, "I guess so, I've just been so upset and stressed out about having to make up exams when we get back from the funeral that I never really thought about it that way."

"Don't worry about the exams Nya. You've been doing great all tri, making up exams should be no big deal for you."

"You really think so? I've felt so overwhelmed that I'm taking to hard of classes and I'm going to fail the exams."

Jay paused for a second, "what's your lowest test score?"

"A b minus, why?" Nya replied.

"See? There's nothing to worry about. Exams are only part of our grades. There's no way you're going to fail especially if a b minus is you're lowest!" Jay assured her.

"Thanks Jay," Nya smiled, actually smiled for the first time all evening.

Before they new it, their mugs were empty and they were already almost back to the dorms.

"Jay?" Nya said as she and Jay walked up the steps to her dorm.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for talking with me just now. I know you're just as stressed about exams as I am and you wanted a quiet night, but it really meant a lot to me just then."

"No biggie. That's what friends are for," Jay shrugged.

Nya quickly hugged him then unlocked her door, "thanks again Jay. See you tomorrow!"

"Bye Nya!"

Jay stood starstruck for a moment. Nya had just hugged him and they had went out together just the two of them. Was that considered a date? Did that mean they were boyfriend and girlfriend?

He didn't know, but he'd have to figure it out. By the time he got back to his dorm, he'd decided that since Cool Beans was a nice place, it was just the two of them, Nya had hugged him, and she'd admitted secrets she hardly told anyone, that it was indeed a date. But boyfriend and girlfriend? Not yet. Jay knew he'd have to make a move, and fast before someone else took her.

Then what thought came bouldering on through: will Kai be mad? I haven't even met her father, what if he doesn't approve?

 **There you have it. So is Jay going to get the guts to ask Nya to be his girlfriend?**

 **Find out next time, which will hopefully be soon!**

 **Thanks to all of you who have read and reviewed this story. You've all been a big help in making this one year.**

 **Gotta go, so see ya!**

 **#God's Not Not!**


	5. Chapter 5

"Hello, this is Jay Walker, this is?" Jay asked as he picked up his phone. The number was one he didn't recognize it.

"Jay? This is Nya. I'm using my parents home phone. Uh, can we talk for a second?" Nya sounded panicked like something else had happened since they last talked.

"Sure. What's going on?" Jay replied.

"Well, Kai's car broke down. We can take the bus back to the city, but we were wondering if you could pick us up at the stop please?" Nya asked.

"Yeah, what time do you think you'll get here?" Jay responded.

Nya let out a sigh of relief, "thanks so much. We'll get back around five."

"Okay, great. I'll be there."

"Thanks so much again Jay," Nya said. Her panic had changed to a quiver like she was about to cry.

"It's no problem, really. Are you doing okay?"

Nya sniffed, "can we talk when we get back? I really don't think I can handle it right now. The burial service just finished."

"Yeah of course. I understand," Jay replied. He wished he could give Nya a hug. She hadn't been taking Sheryl's death all that well it seemed.

"Thanks. I'll see you later Jay. Bye."

"You too Nya. Bye," Jay hung up. Although he knew Nya was clearly upset, he couldn't resist being excited about hearing her voice. It was his best guess that Nya had figured out his crush situation but had chosen not to say anything. She had enough going on anyway.

Jay was pretty sure he was ready to ask her to be his girlfriend. He'd planned and more importantly prayed about how it would all go down. It all had to be perfect, just like her. And, he'd finally come up with the perfect way to do it...

He was gonna wing it.

Everything he ever planned and rehearsed either sounded horrible when it came out of his mouth or got stuck in his throat in the heat of the moment, but he was great at coming up with the right thing to say at the right time. At least he thought so. That's why he was so sure it would work.

There would be no "your eyes shine like jewels", even though they did. No "you're my missing piece," even though Jay thought she was. It would just come out the way it would in the heat of the moment. It would work just fine.

Hopefully.

Jay hopped in his car a little early and drove to the bus stop praying that he wouldn't mess this up and that God would give him the right words to say.

 **So, who thinks Jay's plan of singing it will work? (If you know me, you already know the answer) I'm the same way. I can practice speeches for school all I want, but I've always ended up saying something completely different when I actually give the speech. Goodnight everyone!**

 **#God's Not Dead!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! So, if you've followed me for a long time, you've probably noticed I've disappeared from fanfiction for, what is it? Threeish weeks? Yeah. I took a break for a few reasons: writer's block, busyness, family stuff, figuring out what I want to be as a writer (I know, really deep.), and I got some hateful reviews from "guests" who are really more likely people who signed out of their accounts I'm guessing. I got three reviews in particular that have really upset me, and the best option was to remove myself from the situation until I knew I wouldn't say anything I'd regret later.**

 **Anywho, here's the chapter all you Jaya fans have been waiting for and sadly the last chapter in this story!**

Jay dropped Kai off at his dorm then it was just him and Nya in his car. KTIS Christian Radio (A/n: yes, real station. It's in Minesota somewhere. I googled random Christian stations so I could use something not from near I live. Just a precaution thing.) played softly in the background.

"So, are you doing okay?" Jay asked even though he'd already asked that. Twice.

"I guess so. It's going to feel good to be back in school tomorrow. I could use a little normal," Nya sighed. She stared out the window for a moment, "are you doing okay?" She finally asked.

Jay was glad Nya couldn't see his face. What? "Yeah. I'm doing fine."

"You seem kinda stressed. Is there something going on in one of your classes?" Nya asked.

Jay scratched his head, "No."

It was silent again. Jay began to sweat. Nya was still looking out the window. He wished he could see her face and know what she was thinking. How was he supposed to do this?

"Hey, uh Nya?"

"Yes Jay?"

Jay felt his cheeks heating up, "I was wondering if, if you'd had dinner yet?"

Nya was silent for a minute, "Well, no. I don't think I even had lunch."

"Well, how about we go to that new Italian place, Christini's? It's supposed to be good," Jay suggested. This felt easy. He knew once he got to the girlfriend part of the conversation he'd get all trippy again.

"That sounds good," Nya smiled meakly.

Awkward. Silence. Again.

Jay didn't even bother to celebrate the fact that this was the second date he'd successfully asked Nya out on. Too much was still at stake. He figured he had maybe half an hour to prepare himself.

"So where'd you hear about this place?" Nya asked as Jay got back on the highway.

"Mr. Wu. He talked about it as Bible study the other night," Jay replied, "he knows the couple that owns it."

"Oh cool. What was the lesson about?" Nya asked.

"Magnifying God. It was really interesting."

"I wish I could've been there," Nya sighed.

"Me too. It felt strange not having you and Kai there."

Nya smiled again. Jay's heart melted.

By the time they'd pulled into the restaurant, Jay felt a little less nervous about everything. Nya seemed more cheerful which was something Jay was taking credit for. He wasn't expecting a line to get in.

"Great! Looks like we're waiting," Jay moaned.

Nya shrugged, "it's ok. I don't mind the wait."

Jay took a table pager from the host, "do you want to wait outside?"

"Sure," Nya replied, "it's nice out."

It certainly was. The cool night air was refreshing compared to Jay's cramped car that they'd already spent a good half hour in.

Only a few other groups waiting to be seated were out there. Everything was so quiet, but not the same awkward quiet that took place in the car.

"Hey Nya?" Jay finally asked, deciding now was the time.

"Yeah Jay?" Nya asked and looked into his eyes. Jay noticed how pretty they looked in the moonlight. He could get used to that. He really hoped he would get used to that.

"I was wondering, I know you've been stressed lately and all, but I would like to know, if you'd want to be my girlfriend?" There it was. Everything was out. Jay felt himself blushing and looked at the pavement.

"Jay..."

"It's okay. You can say no if you want. I'm fine with being just friends if you don't want to," Jay rushed out. Why'd he have to be so awkward? "just, I want you to know that you make pretty beautiful."

Before he could look up to see her face, Nya was hugging him, "of course I will! Thank you Jay."

Jay hugged her back, thanking God that this all worked out. He took in the smell of her shampoo and how small she felt in his arms even though Nya had proven to be the strongest girl he knew. He could already see their future forming...

This was going to be a good life.

 **Okay! Thanks all of you for supporting me through this whole story. I hope you all enjoyed.**

 **The line I had Jay say about you make pretty beautiful is from the song by Danny Gokey. It's a really pretty song he wrote for his wife. I'd suggest looking it up. It's really inspired me about what I'd like it to be someday when God willing, I get married.**

 **Roll Credits:**

 **Thanks to...**

 **Titanium Jay (I'll really miss you by the way. You're in my prayers.)**

 **MousEtrap**

 **MayorofNinjagoCity**

 **Guest**

 **Windy**

 **Lizzy16823**

 **KRR**

 **Measuremesky**

 **LovetheLord**

 **JayFan**

 **Lila Kay**

 **Joey**

 **Endevor16**

 **Razena**

 **Horselover204**

 **For following, cavorting, and reviewing this. Your support was awesome!**

 **I'll have the sequel I Will sort of based on the song by Citizen Way up in a week or two. Until then, God bless!**

 **#God's Not Dead!**


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